Personality
and Behavior can be so similar yet so different in many ways. Your personality
is a trait that remains stable throughout your life, and behaviors are our way
of expressing our trait in context. So depending on how our personality is, it
has the potential to impact the way we interact and react to certain stimuli.
Both inventory/assessments reveal how an individual may act in an environment
but doesn't necessarily reveal their core traits. Both models aim to place
individuals in universal categories; these categories are defined by the traits
an individual may carry.
In the Bolton/Bolton inventory, results are based on the
perceptions on how you think others perceive you. Depending on your levels of
assertiveness and responsiveness will determine where you are placed on the
graph. This self-awareness can influence others and how you may approach
certain situations. I've noticed that my trait is pretty on point with what
Bolton/Bolton came up with. The benefits on knowing who you are can be useful
in future interactions that you may encounter. Having this knowledge can help
improve day to day interactions with a certain co-worker or even your
significant other. “It’s useful to determine your own
influencing style so that you are more aware of yourself when going into
certain situations and likewise, it’s useful to try to predict the preferred
style(s) of the person/people that you are aiming to influence so that you can
adopt the best approach to get your message across." By honing these set of skills can even get you to
manipulate others to act the way you want them to. But too much manipulation
can set an individual into double backup.
Given that there are no real ways to determine if these
assessments are fully reliable, we can either agree to disagree on which
spectrum suits us the best. In another article by Sharon Penn, she
categorize the types of organizational behaviors into Extroverts, Agreeable,
Conscientious, Cautious, Self-Conscious, and Adventurous. It allows us to gain
“insight into how well the individuals themselves may fit into the
organizational structure” which can benefit the employee in a more comfortable
environment. I personally agree with Bolton/Bolton’s to an extent. I believe
that traits are something that we cannot change and are with us our entire
life.
Reference:
"Effective Influencing – Bolton and Bolton Personality Types." Highheelstothetopcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
"How Personality Styles Influence Coaching Advice." How Personality Styles Influence Coaching Advice. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
